


From Distant Shores

by Corehealer



Series: Burden and Belonging: Sarah's Shadow - Emet-Selch/WoL Ship Shadowbringers and Ongoing FFXIV Fanfiction [3]
Category: Ascian - Fandom, Final Fantasy XIV, Shadowbringers - Fandom
Genre: Atonement - Freeform, Comfort/Angst, F/M, Gen, Memory, Multi, Other, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:13:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26667268
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corehealer/pseuds/Corehealer
Summary: This installment deals with the experience of Emet-Selch being introduced to several prominent people in the Warrior of Light's life, from his perspective and that of the author's own character, Sarah Corehealer. Emet-Selch proceeds to Revenant's Toll with his love to meet the Scions of the Seventh Dawn, her companions and, perhaps, a few other familiar faces...Continuing themes from previous installments, as well as dealing with how various characters would react to and interact with Emet-Selch. This will also become a recurring theme, specifically with characters who in this installment do not receive as much opportunity to interact as yet.
Relationships: G'raha Tia | Crystal Exarch/Warrior of Light, Solus zos Galvus | Emet-Selch/Warrior of Light
Series: Burden and Belonging: Sarah's Shadow - Emet-Selch/WoL Ship Shadowbringers and Ongoing FFXIV Fanfiction [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913674
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	From Distant Shores

The walk towards Revenant’s Toll from Lake Silvertear was not long, but it was long enough for Emet-Selch to find himself reflecting on what he was about to do.

He had made peace with a great many things these last few days, and his willing consignment to his current circumstances as the Warrior of Light’s captive, she who was now quite obviously the reborn and eight times Rejoined shard of his long departed Azem. His dearest friend, and past lover.

She had been named Persephone in their day, a name seldom spoken in public in the time of Amaurot after she had joined the Convocation, Azem being a prestigious title and the first point of reference for individual address out of respect for her place in government. He had, in that past era, grown accustomed to calling her by both names in their long lives, given how long they had been associated, but all that had happened since had robbed him of that easy familiarity. It rushed back to him now like so much else, but with the caveat that she now went by a decidedly different nomenclature.

She was receptive to these old facts, as he had seen these many days, but he had not asked her much as yet about her new life, and her new name. It would seem, he thought to himself, that if I am to play this new role in her life, I should perhaps endeavour to embrace these new facts as well. We are sharing so much now, after all.

Bits and pieces of the _Agrius_ rusted in piles around the slopes of the rocky edifices of Mor Dhona, piling upward towards the horizon where the mishappen stone structures of Revenant’s Toll loomed ahead, bustling with activity and the flight of numerous adventurers and airships. In his former life, Emet had christened the _Agrius_ as Solus, sending it out on it’s maiden voyage to conclude the conquests of Aldenard. To see it now rotting away in the shadow of all that his long lost love and her many mortal companions had achieved certainly seemed to underline to him the importance of accepting that he had, in fact, been waiting for the path of less bloodshed in earnest for far longer than even he could have realized. That for all his seeming successes, he had in fact only succeeded in failing to find a better way.

Though perhaps, the bloodshed was unavoidable, given what yet needed to be done.

He sighed, turned to his blue companion as they rounded another corner betwixt crystal spires and rocky crags, and spoke.

“ _So, your name_.”

“You haven’t actually called me by it yet, my current one; I assume you know what I go by nowadays. Enough people do.” She leveraged Paikea, her staff, to lift herself up a small rock face onto the main road, which they presently arrived at some distance from the lakeside. As she extended an arm out for him to climb, he spoke hesitantly.

“ _Sarah… Corehealer_?”

She smiled for a moment, feeling the warmth of his aether as he spoke. She dusted off rock and crystal chips and adjusted her clothes after lifting him up before they proceeded down the road to the gates. “In some respects an unusual name, I will grant. Let me explain.”

She began to tell the tale of her name’s origin.

“The first is the name given to me by my Moonkeeper clan, out in Ilsabard, far from here; one of the few things about my youth that I yet cherish, though I couldn’t really tell you what it means. I left them a long time ago, when the differences between their expectations for my life and mine own expectations became irreconcilable, and I abandoned my birth surname of Amariyo when I left. I went for a long time without a last name, wandering the known world as just Sarah, until the day not long before I came to Eorzea when I achieved the first act any could call ‘heroic’; I saved a dying Hyur man beside the roads in Werlyt.”

A stray twig snapped and echoed in the air as they passed under a tree beside the road. A bird squawked and took flight. He followed it a while with his eyes.

“My Echo awoke around that time, and in my disorientation at its sudden arrival and pain I stumbled into the midst of a highway robbery gone wrong. Bandits preying on roads left barren of protection with the Garleans so focused on Eorzea, deprived as it was of local governance. Nevertheless, they had largely been cut down by the man’s guards, he being a merchant of some local repute. His guards had not survived the experience, but before the remaining bandits were able to have their way with their prize I was able to drive off the last of them. As he lay in a ditch beside his overturned cart bleeding, I glimpsed into his soul, a shock for us both, and in the process found the means to heal his wounds, first by magic and then by the use of some supplies I had in my pack. The Echo showed me where his body had been pierced by shards of steel.”

His eyes returned to hers, watching them light up as she recalled every detail of that well-worn story.

“Rousing him to his feet at last, he proclaimed his sincerest gratitude at my selfless act, claiming I was some manner of ‘core healer’ able to reach into the depths of one’s soul and attend to any ailment, physical or spiritual. He offered me the choice of anything from his cart in thanks; I declined, saying simply that the gift of knowledge that he had given me was enough, illuminating the Echo as he had seemed to do for me. A source of ‘great satisfaction’, I recall saying to him. It was many years ago now.”

She turned to look at him.

“I bid him farewell after taking him close to Terncliff, a town I actually recently visited in the company of your former Black Wolf, though in those days I knew better than to approach a town occupied by the Garleans. I spent the next few weeks thinking on the matter, and the name, as I navigated the harrowing gauntlet of Garlean patrols and occupied settlements that dotted Gyr Abania. When at last I had reached Thanalan and took carriage to Ul’dah, I had decided to accept the ‘core healer’ epithet as my own, and became Sarah Corehealer to those I met from that point onwards. It has remained my name ever since.”

He stopped walking. The gates to the Toll were now but a malm away, not far. In the distance the gate guards could see the two figures, seemingly lost in discussion. They squinted their eyes but paid little heed to them as a threat; her figure was a visage they were very familiar of, and they knew her as more of a boon by her presence. Whoever she was with must then surely be a friend.

“ _Your new life may have been far shorter than the one I have lived, preserving so many memories when all others forgot, but certainly, I can see the value in such novel experiences hero. Sarah_.”

She smiled again at him.

“I did say I have much to share with you, did I not? Might as well start with such fundamental things as a name. Especially since you’ll be hearing it a lot more in a moment. Guards and smallfolk simply call me the Warrior of Light, but I prefer to be called Sarah and in the company of those more personally acquainted with me.”

She paused for a moment.

“You said to me, the other night; my name was Persephone?”

“ _Your original birth name, yes. You were called Azem more often than not, in later years, but to me you were always Persephone. My Persephone. My sunlight warden_.”

She blushed profusely at this. He was unsure if she actually remembered anything new at this or was simply reacting to his interest in names.

“Bit of a better circumstance from when I learned your true name, Hades.”

“ _Hmmph, I should think so. Though we can always have another duel of a more friendly nature, whenever you like. Convocation members occasionally engaged in such spectacles to keep their magics sharp, you know. A source of some entertainment for the citizenry of Amaurot_.”

“Oh really? Anything like the Bloodsands?”

“ _Nothing so barbaric I assure you. Blood was seldom drawn_.”

“Surely we can improve on that, I think. Make the heart start pumping a bit more!”

He grinned.

“ _I can think of better ways to get one’s heart pumping faster hero_.”

“Save that thought for when we get your clones back, **Your Eminence**.”

He laughed heartily at this. He wasn’t used to being so genuinely engaged and filled with happiness. It was a true gift indeed. They continued to talk as they approached the gates.

“ _So, Sarah, which of your fine companions will you be introducing me to first_?”

“I imagine Cid will be getting run ragged as usual by his employees and his second, Jessie, so I’ll take you to the Rising Stones instead. The Scions HQ here in the Toll. All of my closest allies should be there, still recovering from the return from the First and other duties of late.”

“ _Ah, I suspect it will be a most pleasant reunion for the ones who have returned_.”

“Quite.” She smirked. “I’ll try to keep Thancred from shoving auracite into you again.”

The gate guards nodded pleasantly at her, taking turns looking at one another after glimpsing Emet in his strange attire. Who was this curious individual following the Warrior of Light around so attentively?

Noting this continuing trend, she spoke.

“I don’t suppose your current form can try a different set of clothes on to suit the sensibilities of the town? I doubt the Garleans and refugees here would appreciate your imperial regalia staring back at them.”

“ _Hmm, I’ll need to take a moment to consider what to wear, and a moment to change. The gloves stay however, my hands are for you alone_.”

“As you like. There’s an alley just there, I’ll keep watch.”

He motioned into the alley behind the walls and towers they had just passed, and after a few minutes returned in a simple brown, hooded robe. He pulled the hood down, his Garlean eye copiously covered by a thin black strip of cloth in the manner of a headband. His brown and white stripped hair remained the same, as did his yellow eyes. His white gloves remained the same, though a bit dirtier perhaps, as if he had rubbed them on the ground for special effect. At his waist, a cord of gold rings, with a medallion connecting them in the midpoint, itself embossed with the image of an Azeyma rose. At this feature she blushed again.

“You really do have a way with women and fine details, don’t you?”

“ _When you live as long as I have, you learn to interact with a great many men and women both. Fine details are very important to learn, to impress and be impressed_.”

It occurred to her for the first time that he was someone who had founded empires in part via the creation of royal dynasties. He must have been with many people in all that time. Sensing this thought, he continued.

“ _And I have loved many, men and women both, as you have, though under far different circumstances than that of mere adventurers on the road. I was able to retain so much more memory by virtue of such interactions; where Lahabrea and Elidibus strove towards our goals largely alone or from the shadows, I was forced towards interaction with those I found so wanting much more often, out in the open, posing as one of them. As it was with Solus; even when one is engaged in the duties of empire, nothing keeps one’s perspective and soul intact like the tender touch of a lover_.”

He pressed a solitary hand to his forehead for a moment, almost as if he was engaged with an Echo of his own. Two fingers pressed close to his eyes.

“ _Dim in colour and continence as they were, I must admit, there were times when some among them struck closer to my heart than I had expected. Diverse individuals all, as diverse as their circumstances and moments in time._ _Some few of them grew to see beneath my veils, though none were ever able to see the fullness of my soul, as you have. As you do. But I would be lying if I said they had meant nothing to me, even with my goals being what they had been_.”

“I harbour no ill will towards them, or jealousy. It gladdens me to know you were not always so alone, in that long time spent apart.”

“ _The feeling is mutual for your own circumstances Sarah; though I expect some of your current paramours remain alive_?”

“You would be correct but that is a meeting, and discussion, for another time.”

She patted him on the back, taking care to be gentle with his aether.

“Suffice to say they’ll be fine with this. I trust none more with my secrets, and you may find them to be more alike to me than you might expect, compassion and all.”

“ _Is that so? High praise_.”

He paused, furrowing his brow again. The clamor of the streets was picking up as the morning hours approached midday. A bright sun now shone in the sky, as it did in his midst.

“ _The last such confidant from my former life, Clivia yae Galvus, was my longtime spouse. She never knew who I truly was, but was a devoted soul nonetheless, and among the more tolerable of my Garlean family. She had a viper’s tongue, when it came to court intrigues, but in my company was as sticky sweet as a ripe mirror apple. She was Varis’ grandmother, and I suspect the source of his ability to gain the throne when I had passed, overcoming his uncle. She passed some years before me, in her sleep. I gave her due honours_.”

He seemed lost in memory for a moment. She looked up at him, trying to imagine. He eventually returned his gaze to her purple irises.

“ _What a world this is, hero_.”

“Indeed.”

He smiled softly.

“ _Shall we continue_?”

They made their way down the street to the Stones.

***

“Tataru, can you put on a cup of tea for everyone? And an extra big pot this time. I’ve brought a guest.”

The door closed quietly behind them both, as he surveyed the humble but comfortable surroundings of the Scions headquarters. A mite bit quieter here than outside in the Toll, but still full of life. Nearly all the Scions, old and new, were present. Already he could glimpse the renewed, younger visage of G’raha Tia, who he had sparred with just short months ago, less crystalline for his more recent adventures in soul searching. The bearer of Allagan royal blood now sat at the bar attended by a comely Elezen woman, one of many who lived and worked at the Stones to whom G’raha was now acquainting himself.

As he turned with a smile at the sound of his dear friend’s call, his face lost all colour in stunned silence. The man next to her, alive?

“Hello, ‘Raha. Say hello to Emet.”

Emet-Selch, waiting in the wings. Beaming at him. He nearly choked on his words.

“B-b-by wha-… how?!?”

“I plan to explain, but please, calm yourself. Naught is amiss with your eyes or my will. He is a friend.”

He stammered, unable to form a coherent sentence. The Elezen woman, Ephemie, former Crystal Brave and current bartender at the Stones, decided now would be a good time to return to her dishwashing, but kept ears keenly on the unfolding scene.

“ _Crystal Exarch, how wonderful it is to see you again, and under happier circumstances as I’m sure you’ll agree. Sorry about the whole kidnapping thing; I do hope we can start off on a better footing now. You are certainly looking much spryer for your age_!”

He smirked, his smile returning to it’s leftward gait, practically leaving his cheek.

“ _I can relate_.”

“How! How is this possible?”

“ _Oh, I have my ways. Ones so curiously similar to your own, in fact. Blood infused auracite; a stroke of true genius for one of the Allagan blood. To think, it would be one of the distant scions of my misbegotten experiment who would one day hold the keys to reuniting me with my true purpose_?”

He produced from his brown robes the Azem stone, somehow having relieved Sarah of it from it’s place close to her heart. She turned an eyebrow up at this.

“ _This, my fine feline friend, is a job stone most alike the ones to which your vaunted heroes are familiar. One blessed with the aspect of your hero here, in the fullness of her heritage. But it carries far more than memories; it carries a large shard of my soul, placed within when I conjured the phantom Amaurot. It is from this anchor that I return, to find freedom, and perhaps, with time, redemption_.”

He placed the stone back into Sarah’s waiting hands.

“ _Call it… insurance. And a bit of hope. For a better future. A future I now plan to make good on, with my dearest Azem. My Traveler_.” He turned to smile at her. She smiled back; embarrassed perhaps a bit, but also exploding with a rush of myriad emotions. Mostly positive.

G’raha Tia, for his part, nearly fainted, requiring Tataru and Ephemie to rush to his side and hoist him up. They escorted him towards the nearest table, opposite the bar and attended to him.

The clamor had begun to draw the attention of the other Scions, who after a few moments circled round the table nearest to the infirmary, Dawn’s Respite, where Sarah and Emet came to rest themselves. The twins, Alphinaud and Alisaie. Thancred, himself nearly as shocked as G’raha. Urianger and Y’shtola, seemingly the most serene at this development, presenting no signs of surprise but more expressions of expectant happiness, exchanging knowing glances. Krile, who seemed the most confused and in need of explanation, followed by the others, such as Coultenet, the Boulder brothers, Clemence and Aenor. Even Unukalhai could not resist the pull of an Ancient come to the Stones, and from within Minfilia’s former office, produced himself. Of all the assembled souls, Emet was drawn first to him, and his face turned to sadness.

“ _Ah, yes… I have met you before. Elidibus’ ward, Unukalhai. Shard of the Thirteenth, and one who he saw much of himself in. I am sorry for your loss, child_.”

“It is no trouble, Angel of Truth. I knew of his passing, and the peace he found in it’s release. I only wonder as to my fate now.”

Thancred cut in.

“Do you mind telling us what the hells is going on here Sarah? Why… how is he here? We watched you cleave him in two! Yet now he sits here right as rain as if nothing happened!”

She glanced to each assembled face. “This will take more than a moment; you might wish to sit down…”

***

She spent close to a full bell explaining the situation, with the throng among them listening intently, faces changing as each new detail was revealed, most surprisingly that of her connection to him, and to the Convocation. Urianger fair chuckled a bit at this revelation, nodding in knowing.

“Tis a fine turn of fate, this auspicious reunion. Not at all one even I could have predicted, in truth, but full glad am I to see we might yet turn the fates towards a brighter purpose, even from among the ken of thine former enemies and peers in that august body. Contented am I at least to know your labours these many months have finally borne fruit, champion.” He turned to Emet. “Though he hath much to answer for, I wouldst prefer his vast knowledge of the world be put to better purpose in life as our ally, than to waste away in death like aught else we have lost.”

Thancred spoke up.

“Well that’s all well and good for you, but certainly it’s going to take a bit more than even Sarah’s say so to make me want to welcome this **viper** into our midst.” He glared at Emet, who shrugged in his typical manner.

“ _I did not expect this to be easy, least of all with the likes of you. But I am willing to do whatever it takes to make amends, to all of you, even in this diminished capacity I find myself in. When we were together on the First, I did truly mean to find common ground; now I am better prepared to meet that goal, freed as I am from Zodiark’s shadow_.”

“He seems to speak true, of his form and state of mind.” Y’shtola had been reading his aether and the connection between it and the stone, as well as Sarah’s heavier soul. It was changed and diminished from that black hole she had perceived on the First, but retained yet great potential and memory, seeking out only for a proper vessel to contain it. And the bond between him and Sarah, souls intermingling, was undeniable.

“I hazard a guess that this means we will need to find a means to contain your soul?”

“ _A circumstance I already, in my infinite wisdom, prepared for. As I already explained to our dear hero, I have a cloning facility deep within the Imperial Palace in Garlemald. A place designed solely for the purpose of ensuring I had a ready supply of comfortable, tailor made Soluses for my soul to inhabit. Varis had a habit of shooting them to death when roused to anger, but plenty yet remain and, I suspect, have been left undisturbed since my departure and his death. Forgotten, like as not, in the hustle and bustle of recent developments, or am I incorrect_?” He gestured an inquisitive eye towards Riol, who had also been listening from a distance.

“Aye, he speaks true. Our informant network in the Empire hasn’t turned up anything as remarkable as mention of Solus walking the streets in any capacity, or anything alike to that claim. T’would seem his precious cache remains safe, though who knows for how long?”

“ _Indeed. I would go to claim what belongs to me, as soon as possible. Only then can I properly begin this new chance given to me by Sarah in her capacity as Azem the Traveler. And, in turn, to help her and all of you survive whatever coming storms might yet roil from my former actions and those of my peers…_ ”

Many eyes glared at him at this moment, many exasperated sighs were loosed, with more than a few shrugs and heads shaken. If the Warrior of Light and Darkness, now also a mythical memory of a misbegotten deity, said this was what was, and that he was legitimate in this course, who were they to argue? This did not stop Thancred from storming off in a huff, with the Twins at his heels. Alisaie turned back to Sarah before they departed out of the Stones.

“We can talk about all this more soon; I think he’s going to need a lot of time to process this to be fair. Honestly, all of us will. I hope you know what you’re doing Sarah.” She gazed warily at Emet for a moment and then was gone. Alphinaud, for his part, said nothing, lost in thought.

Emet was keenly aware of the rift he was creating, but felt confident that, with time, he would be able to mend it and not cost his love her friends or allies, even with the circumstances being what they were. To this thought Krile sat herself down at the table, and looked up at him from under her hood.

“So… the Emperor of blackest Garlemald. Sitting here at this table. An Ascian, Convocation member, and now lover of my friend. Probably some manner of misremembered god, I should imagine. It certainly is a lot to take in, isn’t it?”

“ _Would that you could begin to imagine how I felt about all this, Krile was it? A pleasure_.”

She nodded, and looked towards Sarah.

“And Azeyma? I never imagined I’d be meeting you in a place like this.” They both chuckled.

“It is certainly a lot to take in and get used to.” She looked down at the Azem stone, which she had gestured to often during her explanation. It sat glowing softly on the table.

“What a most curious crystal. I should love to study it, in better times. When it is not currently in use, of course.” Krile turned and smiled at Emet.

“ _I should be happy to explain and help you understand the myriad achievements of the original world, heritage as it is to all of you_.”

“Better by far than the alternative, such as it’s been.” She studied him intently, still uncertain what to make of all of this. “Rejoinings or no, this bears study above all else.”

“ _A scholar’s continence does you credit, daughter of Baldesion. Your Sharlayan reminds me a great deal of Amaurot, and not at all by accident I should think. Memory abounds throughout every corner of the world and every thread of fate. Ours was a blueprint for so much of what you see, and what you are_.”

“Truly fascinating. I imagine the Studium would erupt into fits meeting this fine gentleman. I should love to be there to see it.”

Tataru arrived with brisk Thanalan steeped tea, one for each of the remaining occupants of the table, where she presently came to occupy the fourth seat. The other Scions had gradually departed to various corners or out the door, each lost in their own thoughts or conversations, trying to make what sense they could of these many revelations. Most planned to ask Sarah more questions directly about it later.

“Never thought I’d be serving tea to an Ascian. Emet-Selch, you said your name was? If Sarah vouches for you, I’m willing to give you a chance. Just so long as you don’t give me any frights like that Elidibus fellow.”

“ _Aha, the Waking Sands. I recall him mention that. My apologies on his behalf_.”

“He’s rather polite for a mass murderer, wouldn’t you say Sarah?” She was taken aback by this comment. Emet simply began to sip the tea which dissolved neatly into his aether form, deciding to allow this to play out.

“That’s…” She had no immediate answer.

“I should wonder what goes through your head, having to reconcile with such a man, after he’s killed so many. Very alike to you too, I should guess, given how bloody the path of a hero can get. A match made in the heavens!” Her smile and cheery disposition was in stark contrast to her choice of words.

“Tempered or no, I should also imagine that’ll all take a while to overcome if he ever can. That’s a lot of blood to wash off oneself. Maybe you can take turns at the brush.”

Emet, Krile and Sarah all regarded her with stunned silence. She cheerily continued.

“Would the kind sir like a fitting for some new clothes?”

“ _Ah.. perhaps after I have been reunited with my flesh, we can discuss such a matter_.”

“Very well. I will leave you to your chat. Toodles!”

Under his breath, Emet muttered to himself. “ _What a strange woman, and oddly familiar…_ ”

She hopped off the chair and meandered back towards the bar, glancing briefly at G’raha. The sullen form of the Exarch hung over the table he sat at alone, head in his arms, ears perked upwards listening to every word that had been spoken, processing them.

As Tataru departed, G’raha finally stood up from his spot.

“Sarah, I would have a word with you. In private.”

“Of course, G’raha.” She glanced at Emet for a moment. “I’ll leave you two to talk; will be but a moment.”

She followed G’raha to the nearby storage area, now empty of occupants, and sat with him on some of the spare chairs. He began speaking, quiet and somewhat monotone.

“I… I am sorry.”

“For what?”

“For my initial reaction.”

“I hardly think that something to apologize for, my friend. This is definitely a lot to take in.”

“I don’t just mean that… I mean….” He paused.

“I had hoped, now that we were working together at last, able to adventure to our hearts content, that I could…” He stopped, and she knew immediately what he was getting at.

“And you still have a chance at that. I hold many in my heart ‘Raha, and I certainly wouldn’t be here with them now were it not for your incredible sacrifices and efforts, and those of your peers, past and present. Lyna sends her best as always, by the by.”

His eyes began to well up with tears, but he held them back, staring into her eyes.

“I had people in my life even before we met, the first time, those many years ago. And certainly now, in this reunion with you, as it is with Emet-Selch. He may lay claim to being the oldest, but that hardly means he is or will remain the only one in my heart, a fact he knows and accepts. You remember Reis, for example? You’ve met her too.”

Reis Kjelmara, an Viera adventurer from Rabanastre that Sarah had met in her travels with the Lexentales, who had returned with her to Eorzea and was also someone to whom she was romantically involved. He had met her in the days following his arrival in the Source, when she had come to the Stones to visit Sarah. But she was, of course, decidedly different from a man like Emet, who presented to G’raha plenty of misgivings, not the least of which being the shooting incident. Even so, she was not wrong in her sentiments, and what she said next.

“I am one to whom the road calls, but to whom also my heart ties itself to many others, as has ever been my course, even in ancient days. I am overjoyed beyond words to be reunited with him, but it will not keep me from due affection and devotion to others like Reis who have helped to shape and enrich my life, yourself included.” She placed a hand on his.

“I cannot requite your feelings in full, most specifically your hero worship. I am just a person, at the end of the day, whatever feats and fancy titles might be ascribed to me. It is why I ask for your patience. We have only just been reunited as equals, and I would like to allow you to grow as your own person first, free of your past obligations and able to follow your own heart, before we revisit this matter. But I would have you understand that the door is open, when the time comes, should you be willing to share all this with me. Is that acceptable to you?”

G’raha brushed aside stray tears and smiled, as he had done when she had awakened him in the Tower, not long ago.

“It is my friend. Thank you for this chance. I will… try my best to understand, all of this.” He glanced in the direction of Emet-Selch, now happily engaged in conversation with Krile.

“Good. And I say again; thank you for all you have done for me. You’ve been a true friend, and I look forward to our future, whatever it might bring.” She kissed him briefly on the cheek, smiling as his face grew as red as his hair.

“Come, let us return to the table. I would have you and Emet speak, and start over as he said.”

“V-Very well.” His eyes were slightly glazed over at what he had just experienced. They made their way back over, G’raha fairly floating along the floor savouring the feeling of her lips on his cheek.

“ _Welcome back hero, and our mutual friend. G’raha Tia_.” Emet was well aware of what had just occurred; he was learning a great deal about Sarah by virtue of their mutual soul bond, and presently looked up from Krile to meet the gaze of the man who he had once been in opposition to.

“It will take me some time yet before I can call you friend, Emet-Selch. Having witnessed all I have, known what I have of your past, Tataru and Thancred are not alone in their misgivings. But, for Sarah’s sake, and for the sake of this new future, I will give you this chance.” He locked eyes with the Ascian, his Exarch intensity returning for a moment. He may as well have been gripping his staff firm to the ground, Sarah thought, as she took her seat again.

“ _That is fair. I am not proud of what lingers in my past to dog the present, or my renewed hopes. But I swear to you, I will make amends. To you, to her, to all assembled here, and the Star itself. All it’s shards and peoples. I promise_.”

“I will hold you to that promise.” He managed a simpering smile. “Sarah has ever been my inspiration; I know what it means to hold her in highest regard. From that alone, I can understand your present actions. And, so, I will do what I can to understand you.”

He sat down at the table, next to Krile.

“So… has Cid been informed of this development?”

As if responding to the Exarch’s summons, the door to the Stones kicked open wide.

“ **SOLUS**!”

“ _Oh, here we go_.”

The visage of white hair, eminent beard and Ironworks revolver flashing in the light of the Stones lanterns as Cid nan Garlond strode up to the table, and locked his weapon at Emet-Selch’s head.

“Give me one good reason I shouldn’t put a hole in you.”

“ _I can give you several, if you would refrain from wasting your time and bullets for a few bells, child of Midas_.”

“Don’t you dare utter my father’s name you bastard!”

“Cid, please! Put the gun down!” Sarah rushed up from her place and interceded between the two.

“Godsdamnit Sarah have you lost your mind?!? This man is responsible for the suffering of countless innocents! And an Ascian! And you would welcome him into your home, your heart? What vile sorcery is this that he should cast such a pall over you?”

“Can you please let us explain? Put the gun down. Now!”

His anger was paramount, but so was hers, and he did not want to rouse her to force. He finally sighed deeply, and put the gun down on the table.

“It isn’t loaded. But I felt it prudent to be prepared nonetheless to make a proper first impression. Now explain.”

She began repeating the same explanation as before, now focused on solely Cid, gesturing to the Azem stone which he presently cupped in his gloved hand. Emet all the while looked down at the firearm, finely made, reminding him ever so slightly of the one he had used to shoot G’raha, who now sat across from him, with the gun between them. Fate was truly full of many ironies.

***

“I cannot… I cannot even begin to grasp how much of this is true… it seems too far-fetched. How could he possibly be who he is claiming to be now?”

“I’ve seen his soul, taken his measure. He is what he says he is. I believe it with all my heart.”

He sighed, glancing back towards Emet who presently had concluded his tea and had his arms folded at his chest, looking back at him.

“ _Aught to say, Garlond_?”

“Can it.” He narrowed his eyes at Emet. “You might have gotten her to vouch for you but that doesn’t mean I have to accept this that easily. You want to make amends? I've got a list a few fulms deep in the workshop. Tasks that need doing, blueprints that need producing, funding for new projects. And that’s before we get to the stuff you already promised to do for her and all of us. And dealing with home.”

“ _You want me to sweep your floors_?”

“It’d be a start! Can you imagine, mighty Emperor Solus sweeping my floors? The whole of the Toll would turn out to see that!”

“ _And throw yesterday’s table leavings at me as well; I would prefer not to humiliate myself quite so readily, even so_.”

“I’m sure we can find things for you to do. Get those hands busy, and show me you plan to actually follow through with humbling yourself for a start. Then maybe I’ll start to believe your sincerity.”

“ _I don’t even know how to-_ “ His words were cut off by the re-arrival of Thancred and the Twins.

“The word is already starting to get out about your guest, Sarah. There’s a crowd growing outside, and they don’t seem at all pleased by this development, such as they’ve heard it. They want your explanation.” He folded his arms.

“You should probably go give it to them. And the Alliance leaders too, I should think. They would be very interested by this too. Not least because of the security threat he poses.”

“I really have kicked up a hornet’s nest, haven’t I?” She attempted a worried smile, glancing from face to face before settling on Emet again.

“ _It was never going to be easy, like you said my dear. But you are the hero, and this is the role you play. I guess we can think of this as part of my lessons, hmm_?” He glanced back towards Cid, who even now was cracking a weak smile.

“I might actually come to enjoy tormenting you Solus… Emet-Selch. However many names you have. You got a lot to answer for, for certain, but I got a lot of problems I need to solve right now, and having extra hands is always welcome. I won’t hold a grudge if you can hold a hammer.”

“ _Deal. Though, I’ll need my body back before I can fully take you up on that ‘offer’_.”

“Plenty more reason to go clean up your biggest mess then.”

“I had better go talk to them now before they break the door down.” Sarah rose from her seat and began walking to the doors, flanked by the others, Emet at her right side.

“If anyone starts throwing rotten vegetables at us I’m using him as a shield.” Thancred smirked at Emet.

“ _If anyone starts throwing rotten vegetables they will simply pass through me and fall on your sharp whites, oaf_.” Emet smirked back.

Krile, at the back of the group, rubbed her temples. She’d probably have to start tending wounds again soon, bruises and bruised egos at least. She took some comfort though in knowing that her friend was happy, was trying to make things right. And that her new companion, for all that he was and had been, was someone who held endless fascination in him, and secrets she could scarcely wait to learn. She would do what she could to keep tempers at bay.

As the group departed into the sunlight and Sarah began to do her characteristic soothing of tensions and allaying of fears, the crowd began to shift from anger to confusion, then a wide mix of emotions. Some cried. Some fainted. Some threw their hands in the air, exclaimed various curses or declarations of surprise. Some threw weapons on the ground or discarded armor to lighten the sense of burden. Some found their way to the aetheryte and there planted themselves on its sides, leaning or sitting, thinking about the words she spoke, listening to the hum of that crystalline edifice. These long gone memories and worlds. The true nature of the man who had, for the longest time, cast such a long shadow over their lives in so many ways. Koh Rabntah, the vessel for the Allagan technologist Noah and Saint Coinach researcher, was entranced by these revelations, and simply gazed unerring up at the Crystal Tower, himself lost in memory, his vessel lost in emotion.

Slafborn and some of the other regulars had kept a riot from ensuing at first, but now found themselves lost in thought, and in emotion. All eyes were on her, and on Emet-Selch. A real life Ascian come back to life, a god? A walking testament to the true nature of reality? In the guise of a whoreson Garlean emperor? It beggared all sense.

A few of the adventurers present even approached Emet-Selch directly, following her explanation, to ask him questions. Was he really Nald, or Thal? Or both? Could he grant wishes? What was the world really like? In Garlemald? In Amaurot? What were their shards like, on those faraway worlds? To these and many other questions he had few certain answers, only promises to give, or, towards the inquiry regarding wishes, a kindly gesture, when he produced for one Lalafellian lass a broach with the visage of her late grandfather present within, when she asked if he could journey to his realm and from there pluck back the dearly departed. He explained to her that it was beyond his power to do this, explaining to all assembled the nature of the Lifestream, of the Underworld as it had been known in ancient days. But he promised to her that she would ever have his memory at her side, and therein produced the broach from his robes. At this feat, the crowd fair fell to tears as a whole, and then cheering.

Emet himself was filled with a mix of emotions. He even felt, for a moment, like he was addressing a collection of his own people, educating the young as he once had on the nature of death and the afterlife which had been his charge. What was he to make of all of this? All these people? He looked to his love, and she, sensing his thoughts, merely smiled and held his hand tight. He smiled in turn, and once more knew hope.

Tataru leaned against the Stones front door, taking in the sights from across the front lobby, with it’s own occupants listening to Sarah from behind her and the group. One had already decided it was time to start cracking into the good wine reserves. She smiled.

Things were proceeding according to plan.


End file.
